Just when you thought you had seen everything this sport has to offer, it finds another way to jolt you. We’ve reported on a fish swallowing a golf ball whole. We’ve reported on a pro fighting with his ex-caddie. But what happened at the Biltmore Championship tops the list of bizarre, weird, and absurd stuff happening on the course.
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Argentine golfer Alejandro Tosti started Thursday on the back nine. By the time they reached the 18th hole, Tosti and his ex-caddie, Cliff Ellis, were seen arguing. A video released by Golf Channel showed the Argentine golfer and his caddie stopping midway across the green as they made the turn. After an argument, Ellis dropped the club and tried to take off his caddie bib. Tosti started walking ahead, ignoring Ellis.
But Ellis took his caddie bib off and left the green. Tosti, 30, kept walking without noticing his caddie’s departure. He later told Golfweek’s Adam Schupak that initially he thought Ellis was going to the washroom. But when he reached the par-four first hole to play the front nine, Ellis declined to continue as his caddie. You can watch the surreal scene here. So what transpired in between?
When contacted by Schupak, Tosti cracked a joke: “He couldn’t keep up with eight pars in a row,” with a few laughing emojis, alluding to his birdieless back nine. But Schupak also reported that Ellis and Tosti had a verbal spat on the range on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear what the disagreement was about.
Tosti asked a fan to caddie for the remainder of the first round, and by the second round he had a new looper on his bag. Patrick Talledo caddied for Tosti on Friday, although he missed the cut by four strokes. The Argentine golfer had an opportunity to improve his position in the FedExCup Fall standings, where he entered the week ranked 186th, but failed to do so. This isn’t an isolated event, however, for Tosti.
For instance, during the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour, Monday Q Info’s Ryan French reported that Tosti was repeatedly cursing his caddie, Ray Yoel, at a New Jersey event. Multiple volunteers and fans described the expletives as loud.
The next week, at the Albertsons Boise Open, officials suspended him mid-round for misconduct. While Alejandro Tosti denied French’s past allegations, he admitted to having a short temper.
“It’s been the challenge for me my whole life, dealing with myself,” he told Golfweek in a late 2024 interview about his struggles with the mental side of the game.
Tosti admitted he could be like that from Thursday to Sunday because he focuses on his game and making money during those four days. So if anything gets in the way of that goal, he gets frustrated.
Tosti also had an icy exchange with Tony Finau at the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open. Tosti believed that Finau’s putt was further away from his own putt. But Thomas Detry, playing in the same group, sided with Finau, and Tosti reluctantly went to putt first.
He asked Finau to move his marker. He failed to make birdie, but on the next hole, after the birdie putt, he celebrated with fistpumps directed at Finau. On the sixth, both locked horns again, and Finau once again directed Tosti to putt first.
The Argentine wasn’t happy but putted first. PGA Tour broadcaster said the tension was palpable between the two golfers. Tosti, though, laughed it off like he did the caddie situation this time around.
Nevertheless, the Argentine pro has changed caddies multiple times. Ray Yoel, Joaquin Ali, and Cliff Ellis are among the caddies he has worked with.
In fact, he was working with Joaquin Ali as recently as the 2026 Valspar Championship. The PGA Tour had allowed golfers to customize caddie bibs at the event. In a display on the other (and cheeky) side of his character, Tosti made Ali wear a bib that said, “NEED A WIFE.”
Ultimately, Alejandro Tosti’s unusual caddie situation at the Biltmore Championship adds another chapter to his complicated history in professional golf. But it was far from the only time a professional golfer has been in a similar situation to Tosti.
For example, Brian Stuard’s caddie, Michael Lawson, dropped the bag and quit on the 12th hole of the final round of the 2015 Barracuda Championship. It was after an on‑course argument.
Legendary Seve Ballesteros also faced this at the 1997 Spanish Open. After an argument on the 15th hole about hitting into water, caddie Martin Gray walked off. Ballesteros’ 16‑year‑old nephew carried the bag the rest of the round.